The life and rise of Travis Kalanick, Uber's controversial billionaire co-founder and former CEO

Travis Kalanick founded a startup called UberCab in 2009 that evolved into the Uber we all know today.Uber is now a multi-billion-dollar behemoth that's going public on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.Here's how Kalanick got his start, built Uber into the highest-valued startup in the world, became mired in scandal, and then launched a new career.Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.Ten years ago, Travis Kalanick launched a startup called UberCab in San Francisco.Now, Uber is a global behemoth, one of Silicon Valley's most successful companies — also one of the most contentious — and is ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange as it goes public on Friday.Uber now operates in more than 600 cities worldwide, and priced its IPO at $45 per share, giving it an initial valuation of $75.5 billion. The 42-year-old Kalanick, though no longer at the helm of Uber, is now said to have a net worth of about $5.8 billion.But Uber — and Kalanick — have been caught up in one scandal after another over the years, leading to a four-month investigation, more than 20 firings, and Kalanick stepping down from the company. Here's how it all began — and what Kalanick has been up to since stepping down as CEO.Maya Kosoff contributed to an earlier version of this post.